Create.

This morning I've been back in the book of Genesis, one of my favorite books of the bible. Every time I fumble through the pages, I am in awe of all that God did at the very beginning of this thing called, life.

The word that is sticking with me this morning is, Create.

Definition?

verb
1. to cause to come into being, as something unique that would not naturally evolve or that is not made by ordinary processes.

Creation is what God did that was impossible for man.

My Hope (7) is the artist of the family. She is always creating something! Whether it's taking boxes and taping them together, sharpie markers on the wall, gluing paper plates together, or even just taking string and stringing it across the playroom....it usually ends up as a mess -in my eyes. But to her...it's the most beautiful thing ever.

Bless her.

It's really hard for me to not zap her creative genes. And I have gotten better over time...I let a lot of things go. Like the time she decided to glue all of our pencils together. TOTALLY...Let.it.go.

But the word create, created or creation is found all over the bible. In different texts, meanings and forms. And the Hebrew word for create is bara. Which means, "to fatten or be filled".

So instead of, "God created the heavens the earth" it would be "God filled the heavens and the earth." Which makes sense if you think it through.

Stick with me for a second as we talk this out. Because I get just as lost as anyone when it comes to digesting Hebrew. {smile}

The word bara is never used in reference to man. As in, the things man creates. Like my Hopie's creations. Or how man can create an enviornment that is warm or cool. That perspective of create is very different than this term bara. Those things are things we can do on our own strength. Sure, God is the one who gives us the creative genes within us but when we think about how HE creates...it's very different.

It's very awesome.

It's not just making something new...but transforming something into a new condition.

Hopie's creations around our home could be defined as a Potter...she is shaping things into something beautiful even if the rest of the world doesn't think it is. Which is exactly what God does with each of us after He fills us. To the rest of the world we may look foolish, lost and very out of place but in the creators eyes...it's simply beautiful.

But in order to start shaping us, we need God to be our bara. He needs to make us a new condition. We have to be filled with Him before we can be shaped by the Potter's hand.

This is something to think about as we ask God to do things like, "Create in us a new heart" [Psalm 51:10]. Because we are not asking God to simply shape us through prayers like that. We are asking Him to fully take us from the inside out and re-condition our hearts. Sometimes this is the most necessary thing that God has to do within us -to create.

The incredible thing about our God is that we can do this today. We can start over, fresh and new. I know my heart often needs a stop at the re-condition shop when things like jealousy, anger or pride start showing up. And I am so thankful that my God is a God who is continually making all things new -not just shaping.

Hitting the ground running this morning as a new creation [again] in Him.

Much love.